Chris Grayling

The Government will publish the report and set out its response in due course.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

I am pleased that the UK reached an agreement to take part in the Horizon Europe programme. Association to Horizon has been welcomed by businesses and the research community and will bring huge benefits to the UK.

The Government will be making available an additional £250m in 2021/22 for Horizon association. Also, £400m of funding announced at SR20 to support government priorities has been made available to help pay for our association to Horizon Europe. As a result, UK scientists will have access to more public funding than ever before.

This takes total Government investment in R&D to £14.9 billion in 2021/22 and follows four years of significant growth in R&D funding, including a boost of more than £1.5 billion in 2020/21. It will mean UK Government R&D spending is now at its highest level in four decades.

Unlike for domestic customers, energy suppliers are not obligated by their supply licence to offer a service to business customers. Contractual terms offered to businesses are a commercial matter for energy suppliers. An offer of a supply contract could depend upon a number of factors, such as the type of business, estimated amount and volatility of consumption, the customer’s credit score and length of contract required. We would encourage businesses to shop around to find the best deal.

Non-professional groups of up to six people can now sing indoors, and can perform or rehearse in groups of up to 30 outdoors. In addition, multiple groups of 30 can now sing outdoors, provided the groups are kept separate throughout the activity. This is an important step forward in the return of non-professional performing arts activity from Step 2.

It is important that we take a cautious approach in easing restrictions. We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.

Government has prioritised the safe return of sport including team sports, contact combat sports and organised sports participation events. Organised outdoor sport, such as Parkrun, is exempt from legal gathering limits and can take place with any number of participants, as long as undertaken in line with published COVID-secure guidance. As such, Parkrun has been able to take place since 29 March as part of Step 1 of the government’s response to the Covid-19 Roadmap.

I met with ParkRun on 21 April to discuss their concerns regarding their return and my officials have engaged extensively on this issue over the past year . In addition, I have also issued a letter of support to ParkRun which they have sent on to landowners, clearly acknowledging that these events can take place. I have also raised my support in the House and through social media.

I am committed to supporting them to return as soon as possible. and I appeal to local authorities and landowners to work constructively with park run organisers on the safe return of park runs.

Government recognises the significant impact of Covid-19 on young people, particularly the most vulnerable, and on the youth services that support them. A £16.5m Youth Covid-19 Support Fund has been announced which will protect the immediate future of grassroots and national youth organisations across the country.

This funding will be allocated from the Government’s unprecedented £750 million package of support which is benefiting tens of thousands of frontline charities, so they can continue their vital work. More than £60 million of this package has already been provided to organisations working with vulnerable children and young people.

The Youth Investment Fund remains a manifesto commitment for transformative levelling up across the country over the course of the parliament. In the recently announced Spending Review, £30m of this was committed as capital investment for 2021-22. This will provide a transformational investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people, so they can access support youth workers, and positive activities out of school, including sport and culture. Further details of the timetable for allocation will be announced in due course.

Wildlife not only plays an important role in the health and abundance of our nation's natural resources but also assumes a crucial role in England's agricultural success. Defra has ensured that we have a policy package that includes both legal protections and funding enhancements. This dual approach supports the Government's deep commitment to the environment, reflected in the goals we have set through the 25 Year Environment Plan. Defra will support farmers in turning over fields to meadows rich in herbs and wildflowers, planting more trees, restoring habitats for endangered species, recovering soil fertility and attracting our wildlife back.

Following our exit from the EU, farmers and land managers continue to be required to comply with domestic legislation, including compliance with regulations that cover water courses, hedgerows, buffer strips for fertiliser and manure application. Farmers and land managers must comply with these regulations even after rules that relate to CAP payments cease to have effect.

Legal protection for hedgerows is provided by the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. These regulations prohibit the removal of most, or parts of, countryside hedgerows without first seeking approval from the local planning authority. We also currently have regulations which protect water courses under the Farming Rules for Water.

Regarding funding, the Countryside Stewardship scheme offers farmers funding for creating buffer strips on cultivated land. These grassy buffer strips not only create new habitat and prevent pollutants (such as pesticides and sediment) from entering aquatic systems, they also provide wildlife with much needed corridors to link existing habitat areas and aid dispersal.

Signing a Countryside Stewardship agreement over the next 2-3 years gives farmers and land managers a viable, long-term source of income for providing environmental benefits. Those who sign up to new Countryside Stewardship agreements will also be well-placed in the future to participate in our new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, subject to successfully applying.

Additionally, under the ELM scheme, due to launch in 2024 as the cornerstone of our new agricultural policy, farmers and other land managers may enter into agreements to be paid for delivering public goods, including thriving plants and wildlife.

The total agricultural area in 2019 was 9,604,512 hectares in England and 18,848,943 hectares in the UK.

The utilised agricultural area accounts for 94% (9,059,462 hectares) of the total agricultural area in England and 93% (17,531,535 hectares) in the UK.

The utilised agricultural area includes all arable and horticultural crops, uncropped arable land, common rough grazing, temporary and permanent grassland and land used for outdoor pigs. It excludes woodland and other non-agricultural land (such as tracks, ponds and yards).

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. The total area in England of non-developed land (agricultural, forest and open land only), which may be available for conversion to agricultural, forestry, moorland or other countryside uses, is 10,910,678 hectares (based on 2018 MHCLG Land Use data, the latest available). A proportion of this land will already comprise species rich or protected habitats or high grades of agricultural land so may not be suitable for conversion to other uses.

Marine protection is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only.

The impact a fishing vessel has on a Marine Protected Area is determined by how damaging the fishing method is, rather than the size of the vessel. 'Supertrawlers' generally target pelagic species of fish within the water column and are unlikely to damage the seabed habitats, such as reef and sediment habitats, for which most Marine Protected Areas are designated.

A new power proposed in the Fisheries Bill will allow the Marine Management Organisation to protect offshore Marine Protected Areas from damaging fishing activity. We are prioritising those Marine Protected Areas most at risk and aim to make rapid progress as soon as the transition period ends.

Our Fisheries Bill prohibits any commercial fishing vessel from fishing in UK waters without a licence. It also provides powers to attach conditions (such as the areas that can be fished, species that can be caught and the type of fishing gear that can be used) to fishing vessel licences. Foreign vessels operating in UK waters will have to follow UK rules, including the conditions that are attached to their commercial fishing licence.

Between 2014 and 2024 the Government is investing over £66 million to crack down on the illegal trade of animals and plants, including activities to train rangers in Africa to help communities protect their wildlife from poaching.

We remain fully committed to protecting biodiversity and preventing the loss of species, which is why we are looking carefully at how we can contribute to the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes through our well respected Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund which has committed over £26 million to 85 projects since it was launched in 2014. The latest round opened for applications on 22 May 2020 and is available to support projects that respond to the emerging impacts of Covid-19 on the illegal trade in wildlife.

The total budgets allocated to the international forestry projects listed in the Answer of 12 March 2020 are provided in the table below.

The international forestry projects receiving funding since 2016 are as follows:

• Nepal Multi-Stakeholder Forestry Programme
• Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (global programme with governance and timber legality focus)
• Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (global programme with supply chains focus)
• International Forestry Knowledge programme (KnowFor)
• Forestry, Land-use and Governance in Indonesia
• Improving Livelihoods and Land Use in Congo Basin Forests
• Green Economic Growth for West Papua (Indonesia)
• Supporting a Sustainable Future for West Papua’s Forests (Indonesia)

In addition, DFID supports forestry projects through its grant contributions to two multilateral funds, the Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund.

Tackling climate change and environmental degradation are key priorities for DFID and this Government. At UNCAS in September, the PM announced a new £220m International Biodiversity Fund and that the UK will double our international climate finance to £11.6bn between 2021-2025, helping developing countries to take action in these areas.

DFID supports activities related to re-greening in various areas. This includes forestry, where DFID contributes to the UK’s efforts to protect biodiversity, reduce carbon emissions and support the livelihoods of communities reliant on forests and agriculture. Between 2016-2019, DFID provided grants totalling £211 million (bi-lateral and multi-lateral) for international forestry projects.

The UK is also doubling its International Climate Finance to at least £11.6 billion over the period 2021-2025 to help developing countries take action on climate change. This will include a major uplift to support nature-based solutions to climate change.

South Western Railway (SWR) has provided an increase in peak service between Epsom and London Waterloo from Monday 17 May, this represents an increase on previous service provision. SWR is currently running at 85% of pre-COVID levels, a 13% increase on the pre-17th May Timetable. Service levels will continue to be reviewed regularly to ensure the capacity provided continues to meet the demand.

The Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England. It will provide support up to the equivalent of their business rates liabilities or COVID-19 losses – whichever is lower – in the 2020/21 financial year, subject to certain conditions and a cap per claimant of £8m.

Grant payments made to successful applicants can be applied toward costs which are essential to enable the operation of a commercial airport or ground handling operations and falls within the list of eligible expenditure. Payments are not limited to use on business rates cost only.

The Passenger Locator Form (PLF) is a key part of our Covid-19 strategy to ensure passengers who are required to self-isolate after travelling do so when they arrive in the UK, and passengers who have travelled near someone who tests positive can be contacted. Passengers are required to fill out a PLF before arrival in the UK.

Airlines are in an unparalleled position to assist in ensuring compliance away from the UK border, thereby facilitating a smooth arrivals process at UK ports.

The Government will continue to engage with industry on our proposals for ensuring passengers arrive at the border with a completed PLF.

All local authorities in England are already able to install School Streets, as they consist of standard traffic management measures readily available to them.

The Active Travel Fund, announced on 9 May, is providing £225 million to local authorities to help them make changes to their road layouts to encourage active travel. Alongside this, the Department published additional Network Management Duty guidance providing advice on what changes the Government expected local authorities to make. School Streets are one of the measures listed.

‘Gear Change: A bold vision for cycling and walking’, published on 28 July, also includes a commitment to create more School Streets, to help deliver the ambition that half of all journeys in urban areas should be walked or cycled.

In April 2020 Local Housing Allowance rates were set at the 30^th percentile of local rents, costing nearly £1 billion and providing - on average - 1.5 million households with an increase of £600 per year.

I can also confirm that the increase to Local Housing Allowance rates will be maintained in cash terms in the next financial year, to continue supporting our claimants to manage housing costs.

We do not currently hold information to make such an assessment.

There has been no such assessment.

In April we increased Local Housing Allowance rates for Housing Benefit and Universal Credit to the lowest 30 percent of local rents. This includes all rates in Outer South London and Outer South West London, the two Broad Rental Market Areas which fall within Epsom and Ewell. This significant investment of almost £1billion, ensures over 1 million households will see an increase, on average, of £600 this year.

As of March 2021, there were 536 more full time equivalent doctors working in general practice compared to March 2019.

NHS England and NHS Improvement and Health Education England are working with the profession to increase the general practice workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession and encourage them to return to practice. A record 3,793 doctors accepted a place in general practitioner (GP) specialty training in 2020/21, against a target of 3,500. From 2021, the Government has committed to increasing the number of GP training places to 4,000 a year.

Decisions to place countries on the ‘red list’ are taken by the Government informed by evidence including the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s risks assessments alongside wider public health factors.

We are unable to provide information on the decisions on specific countries as this relates to the on-going development of Government policy. However, further information on the data informing international travel risk assessments is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-informing-international-travel-traffic-light-risk-assessments

Recycling is not currently an option for used plastic swabs and the associated lateral flow device test kit. The preferred waste management route is via energy recovery. However, landfill can be utilised if energy recovery is not available.

The Department has monitored a collection of small studies which have now completed and provided some positive signals on the use of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. However, larger scale studies are still needed to confirm the effectiveness and safety of this treatment. The Therapeutics Taskforce is aware that several more studies into ivermectin are set to conclude in the next few months and will continue to monitor these ongoing trials to assess the evidence available on whether ivermectin is an effective treatment for COVID-19.

This information is not collected in the format requested. Public Health England’s series counts deaths in people with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 but does not provide definitive information on the causal role of COVID-19 in relation to individual deaths.

In March 2014, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted resolution 25/1, which was led by the UK and other members of the Core Group on Sri Lanka. This resolution established the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), which reported in 2015. Since then, the UK has continued to lead efforts at the UNHRC to advance post-conflict accountability, reconciliation and human rights in successive UNHRC resolutions.

The UK government remains concerned about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, including the issues faced by the Tamil community. The Minister for South Asia, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, set out our concerns in a statement at the UNHRC on 25 February. The UK, again alongside Core Group partner countries, has presented a new draft resolution at the UNHRC which aims to provide a framework for continued international engagement on human rights and post-conflict accountability in Sri Lanka. The draft text requests enhanced monitoring and reporting by OHCHR on the human rights situation and requests the UN to collect, preserve and analyse evidence which could be used in future accountability processes.

The UK Government is aware of the hunger strike being carried out by Mrs Ambihai Selvakumar, and recognises the concerns she has raised regarding the issues faced by the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. We have highlighted similar concerns about the lack of progress towards post-conflict accountability and the wider human rights situation, including in statements to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in February, June and September 2020. The Minister of State for South Asia, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, also set out our serious concerns about human rights in Sri Lanka in a statement at the UNHRC on 25 February. He has raised the importance of accountability, justice and reconciliation on several occasions with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, most recently during calls on 12 February and 22 January respectively.

The UK, alongside Core Group partner countries, is leading a new resolution on Sri Lanka at the current UNHRC session. The draft resolution provides a framework for continued international engagement on human rights and post-conflict accountability. It calls on the government of Sri Lanka to investigate and prosecute all allegations of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international law, and highlights concerns about the human rights situation, including particular concerns about the protection of minorities.

We will continue to press for a strong role for the UNHRC to help advance accountability, reconciliation and human rights in Sri Lanka. Lord Ahmad has also responded by letter to the organiser of a petition related to Mrs Ambihai Selvakumar's hunger strike.

The Government understands concerns about the impact of the 90 days in a rolling 180-day visa-free travel limit on British Citizens who travel to the EU for extended periods of time, as reflected in representations over recent months, including from British Citizens who own second homes in EU Member States and the yachting/sailing community.

The Government discussed arrangements with the EU for British Citizens travelling to the Schengen Area. Regrettably, the EU consistently maintained that British Citizens will be treated as Third Country Nationals under the Schengen Borders Code from 1 January 2021. This means that British Citizens will be able to travel visa-free for short stays for up to 90 days in a rolling 180-day period. This is the standard length of stay that the EU offers to nationals of eligible third countries that offer visa-free travel for EU citizens, in line with existing EU legislation.

The Government discussed arrangements with the EU for British Citizens travelling to the Schengen Area. Regrettably, the EU consistently maintained that British Citizens will be treated as Third Country Nationals under the Schengen Borders Code from 1 January 2021. This means that British Citizens will be able to travel visa-free for short stays for up to 90 days in a rolling 180-day period. This is the standard length of stay that the EU offers to nationals of eligible third countries that offer visa-free travel for EU citizens, in line with existing EU legislation. British Citizens planning to stay longer will need permission from the relevant Member State.

The UK's Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU confirms that both the UK and EU currently provide for visa-free travel for short-term visits for each other's nationals in accordance with their respective laws. The detail of those arrangements is set by domestic law. The Government does not typically enter into bilateral agreements on visa-free travel.

From 5 November, the FCDO stopped advising against all travel worldwide and reverted to country-based advice. FCDO travel advice remains under constant review and considers both epidemiological and non-epidemiological risks in each destination. When the FCDO no longer assesses the risks to British nationals to be unacceptably high, travel advice is updated accordingly.